


The Sky is Falling Down around Me

by aurorasnights



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alex Has A Sibling (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Has Anxiety (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Has Bad Parents (Julie and The Phantoms), Alive Alex Mercer & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters (Julie and The Phantoms), Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Except Rose - Freeform, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Reggie Has a Sibling (Julie and The Phantoms)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:41:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28075638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurorasnights/pseuds/aurorasnights
Summary: Alex never intended for his parents to find out that he was gay. He knew they wouldn't accept him, but he still harbored a hope that his parents would accept him (They didn't), and now 7 months later, he still hasn't told anyone. But the situation is getting worse for Alex, and he may have to start relying on his friends and family.This takes place in November 2020 and there is no Coronavirus in this universe!TW: Child Abuse, Child Neglect, Child Manipulation
Relationships: Alex & Flynn (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex & Julia Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex & Ray Molina
Comments: 4
Kudos: 66





	1. A New Normal (That isn't really normal at all)

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this story in Late September/Early October and since I started the idea, it has switched fandoms, and the official last names for Alex and Reggie have come out! I'm not changing the last names for them, so for this fanfic they are Alexander Evans and Reginald Carter. I'm really happy to finally be posting the first chapter and I will try to post weekly but I don't know how well that will go.

Alex walked in after band practice, closing the door softly and walking towards the kitchen in case his parents had already started dinner. His parents started dinner at 7, though they would usually wait about 15 minutes for Alex if dinner ran late. However, his parents were sitting on the living room couch, his mother’s pristine brown hair still clipped back in an elaborate style and his father’s hands clenched into fists. His mother smiled at him, but it was odd. Like a smile you gave the villain when he was trying to make his final move and the main characters knew they had the villain defeated. His father cleared his throat and his mother straightened her back until it looked painful. Alex gulped; this couldn’t be good. Maybe they were angry at him for staying at the Molina’s after then 7 without texting or calling them to let them know he was staying late?

“Sweetheart,” his mother began. “We found something in your room.” And then his father held it up. Alex restrained a gasp. It was his miniature pride flag, a definite sign that he was gay.

“Alexander.” His father said. “We know you are gay. And that is…” Alex held his breath hoping that his father would say that it was normal, that he and his wife supported him. “Not ok. This could reflect badly on us, do you understand?” Alex’s heart dropped. This was not good, his parents didn’t accept him. When he didn’t react, his mother continued. 

“Alexander, you are gay.” His mom said, calmly. “We can not let this tarnish our reputation. You may continue to live in the house. However from now on, me and your father will not speak to you inside the house, and you may not address us by familial attachments at home such as mother and father. Call us Mrs. and Mr. Evans. Outside the house, it shall appear that nothing is wrong. It would be a shame if your friends found out, because this is not natural. This is a phase, Alexander. It will end and when it does, me and Richard will be happy to accept you back.” Alex saw his mom and dad walk away, his eyesight blurring and he walked upstairs to his room instinctively. He collapsed on the floor next to his bed, leaning his head on his wall. He was scared. What if his parents changed their mind and did kick him out? What would he do then? He couldn’t go to Luke, or Reggie or Julie. What if they hated him? Alex couldn’t deal with the rejection of his bandmates. The band was his escape from the world. And he couldn’t tell Nico or Izzy. He couldn’t deal with another family member hating him, let alone his siblings. He couldn’t be the thing that tore his family apart. And he couldn’t tell his friends, he selfishly needed them. The band was one of things that calmed his anxiety, drumming in the band. Alex couldn’t risk giving it up. He couldn’t let anyone know.

~*::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::*~

It had been 7 months since that fateful day. And it wasn’t that bad! It wasn’t worth ruining his friends’s happiness. The Carter’s financial situation was finally improving after Mr. Carter lost his job a couple of years ago and the fights were finally easing up. Plus, Reggie had more time with his parents and his older brother just left for college. The Pattersons were mending their shattered relationship and Luke hadn’t had a major fight with his parents for 2 months. Luke had run away during the holidays last winter; Alex remembered the frantic phone calls from Mrs. Patterson and Reggie and Julie. Thankfully, Luke was in Julie’s garage and they talked him into letting his mom know that he was safe. He didn’t return home for another 4 months. The Molina’s were finally regaining some sense of normalcy after Mrs. Molina died. Alex couldn’t disrupt that after Julie started playing music again last September, almost 14 months ago. Alex just couldn’t do it.

“If you got below an 65 on this test, an email will be going home to your parents.” Mr. Sinclair’s voice broke through Alex’s thoughts.

“Oh, no.” Reggie whispered to him. “I really don’t want mom and dad to know if I got an awful grade.” And that’s when Alex started freaking out. He had been trying so hard to stay off his parent’s radar. This was bad, so bad. Reggie was a straight A student in math, but Alex on the other hand was a bit of a mess. Alex could reliably do the math, but thirty percent of the time he would misunderstand the topic. He really hoped that this test wasn’t one he failed. Mr. Sinclair put the test on Alex’s desk, face down and Alex looked at it in horror. Reggie flipped over his test and grinned, holding it up to Alex. He had gotten a 102, like usual. Flynn turned around to face him, holding up her test, a 95 circled in red ink. Alex looked at the back of his test, freaking out. What if he failed? 

“Come on, Alex. It’s not going to change.” Reggie whispered at him.

“But I won’t know, which is better than seeing that I failed and having my parents emailed.” Alex whispered back, half paying attention to Mr. Sinclair’s speech on how this was an Honors class and he expected more from them. Flynn just turned around again and flipped his test over. And there it was. Circled in red ink, the three digits of 104. 

“Awww, you got both bonus questions right.” Reggie whined. Alex barely heard him over the beating of his own heart. He didn’t fail, he was just worrying too much. Reggie tapped him on the shoulder, and Alex jumped up. 

“What was that for, man?” Alex asked, still trying to catch his breath from Reegie startling him. Reggie gave him a concerned look. 

“The bell rang, like a minute ago.” Reggie said, picking up Alex’s backpack. “Geez, what do you have in here? It feels like rocks.” Alex laughed and he grabbed his bag from Reggie.

“I never asked you to pick it up.” Alex jovially said. As they walked outside, they saw Flynn staring at her phone, looking up when they walked out of the classroom.

“Finally! I was wondering how long you would take.” Flynn exclaimed. “Audrey Matthews just put up a new video!” Reggie hummed.

“Remind me again, who is Audrey Matthews?” Reggie asked in a sarcastic tone. And like a familiar song, Flynn went on the rant that she always gave when Reggie “forgot.”

“Audrey Matthews, full name Daniella Audrey Matthews, is a ballerina and an LGTBQ+ activist. She rocketed up to being principal dancer extremely quickly and she advocated for gay and trans rights, early in her career, risking it. She has a youtube channel talking about her career and LGTBQ stuff. She’s semi famous on Youtube, having currently 4.5 million subscribers.” Flynn finished, slightly out of breath. At this point this was a routine between Reggie and Flynn. Alex wasn’t even sure that Flynn was even actually offended by the question anymore. 

“Anyways, she just posted a new video on her favorite ballets. I would watch it now, but I have class.” Flynn said, rolling her eyes. “Greenwood would not be happy if I was distracted in her class while watching a video.” Alex huffed out a breath. If Mrs.Greenwood had the slightest inclination that they weren’t paying attention in her class, she would call them out. Not happy was three percent of Mrs Greenwood’s reaction. Alex adjusted the straps on his backpack and started walking faster, ignoring Flynn and Reggie’s argument on who was worse, Mrs.Greenwood or Mr. Sinclair. 

“Guys, I am sure Mrs.Greenwood would appreciate you guys being late to her class.” Alex snarked as he increased the distance between him and Reggie and Flynn. He heard Reggie stumble as he tried to walk faster and Flynn’s laughter. Alex smiled and immediately started frowning. Today was Thursday. Thursday. The one day his presence was required at the dining table while his parents questioned his life. The math test didn’t even matter. He was getting interrogated on his life tonight, regardless of test score. 

Alex exhaled after saying bye to Reggie and Flynn after English ended. They had Vocals next, while he had Gym. Alex despised Gym with a passion. He could have gotten out of Gym class and all the dodgeballs by taking Dance, but he couldn’t dance. He used too, but it was too painful after. He could have also taken Vocals and been with Reggie and Luke for Gym but Alex couldn’t sing. Alex would not sing. It was the same reason he didn’t dance. Or play the piano anymore. It was just too painful. And he was glad Julie was able to play piano and enjoy music after her mother died but Alex could never get past that block. He hadn’t been able to get past it for 6 years.

“Alex, you ready for tomorrow?” Luke asked as he passed Alex in the hallways, Julie next to him, looking down at her phone. Tomorrow Mr. Molina was hosting a garage party for Julie and the Phantoms to perform. He and his colleagues would record the event and then Flynn and Julie would edit the video and post it on Youtube. 

“Yeah.” Alex said, giving Luke two thumbs up.

“Great, me and Julie were going over some last minute changes- don’t worry, they are just tiny edits for the lyrics. Can you check with your folks if you can stay late tonight?” 

“I’ll ask.” Alex said, putting on a neutral expression, but inside he was elated. Extended band practice would allow him to miss dinner with his family and spend it with the Molina’s. Alex would rather spend time with any other family on Thursday’s than his own. The only concern was if his mother would let him stay late. Alex’s palms started sweating and he had the urge to pace around, so he just walked away from Luke and Julie going at a steady rhythm.

“Bye Luke, Julie.” He said as he started walking towards the gym.

“Bye Alex, see you later.” Julie said, finally looking up at him. Luke simply waved.

Grabbing his phone from his shoulder bag, Alex unlocked it and pressed on his mother’s phone number. The phone rang for 30 seconds and he thought his mom would ignore the call when the call connected.

“Alexander, why are you calling me?” His mother’s irritated voice rang out of the phone.

“Mother, there’s late night band practice today. I will not be there for dinner this evening.” Alex said in a neutral tone.

“Very well Alexander.” His mother said and then hung up. Alex exhaled.

“What was that?” A voice behind Alex asked. Alex jumped, his heart racing. “I mean that is the coldest I’ve ever heard your mother sound.” 

“Julie, you scared me!” Alex exclaimed trying to calm down his rapid heartbeat. “I thought you were heading to Vocals with Luke?” 

“I was, but then I realized that getting there early would mean watching Flynn ignore me for the new Audrey Matthews video.” Julie said. “So, I am walking with you to the gym and back.”

“Ok, but you didn’t need to creep behind me.” Alex sighed, a hand still on his heart, his heartbeat still way above where it needed to be.

“About that, what was that call about?” Julie asked, frowning. “Your mom sounded cold.”

“I think she was busy at work when I called.” Alex lied, ignoring the growing pit of dread that normally came when he lied. “She probably didn’t want to speak to me for long.”

“Ok. Do you want to sing tonight?” Julie asked, twiddling with the bracelets on her left wrist.

“I don’t sing, remember Julie?” Alex said looking at her in confusion.

“I know, but I thought I'd ask anyways.” Julie said, smiling at him. “Just tell me or Luke if you ever want to sing, and we’ll give you a part. Just don’t tell us five minutes before the show, alright?” Julie then turned around, heading for her vocals class. Alex sighed. There was only gym and Performance/General Music left and then Alex had to head home. His home was the house in the Secret Garden, so quiet and isolated, one would think everyone was dead. But it was not. His mother or father would be home, they not trusting him in his “rebellious gay phase,” and they would just ignore him or say something along the lines of, “Oh dear, we won’t have enough food for dinner, there must be a ghost be eating it all,” or “Wouldn’t it be nice if the ghost hanging around here did the dishes so Amelia wouldn’t have to.” It was also calling his parents by formal titles that really hurt. His mom and dad weren’t his mother and father, but rather strangers that he cared for and was being manipulated by. But Alex couldn’t tell his friends. And the situation wasn’t that bad.


	2. A Great Change is Coming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy new year everyone! Sorry for the delay on the chapter, I wasn't feeling well for the last couple of weeks and I didn't have the effort to edit.

Alex walked into the Molina’s garage 15 minutes early. Usually band practice started at 5, and Alex had arrived at 4:45. Here Alex had two options. He could stay in the garage or he could head up to the house and talk to Mr. Molina and Julie and Carlos. Alex immediately voted in favor of staying in the garage. No conversations about why he was so early and how was his life (Honestly not that good right now). Alex walked in further, closing the garage door behind him and looked ahead. It was the piano that Julie used when playing their more personal pieces, Wake Up, Home is where my Horse is, and Unsaid Emily. Alex was asked if he had anything he would like to add and he said no, but he did have a couple of songs. He walked over to the piano, sat down behind it and pulled the lid up carefully. The black and white keys stared at him and he knew the keys he had to press to play the song. Alex held his breath. He placed his fingers over the keys and went down to play the melody in his head - and he couldn’t. His fingers froze, refusing to press down. He sighed with frustration and stood up, closing the lid. He grabbed his shoulder bag, looking for the small notebook he always carried with him. It was slightly larger than the palm of his hand and was pink with a peeling ballerina sticker on it. Alex pushed the edges of the sticker back and opened the journal. The first few pages were covered in his large, chunky, 8 year old handwriting. Then the next pages had her handwriting on it, of music scores and lyrics that she had come up with to his melodies. Alex played piano mostly by ear, but Izzy taught him how to read treble and bass. He smiled, running his thumb over the title at the top of the page.

Never Enough by Alexander Matthew Evans and Charlotte Grace Evans. (With help from Isabella Audrey Evans and Nicolas Daniel Evans)

Charlotte Grace, his older sister, but not oldest. Izzy had that privilege. Alex missed his sister so much. She had disappeared 6 years ago, when she was 18, Alex was 10, Izzy 20 and Nico 23. Nico, Izzy nor his parents had heard from her since. She could be dead for all they knew. And he hadn’t touched the piano, sung a note or danced since she went missing. It reminded him too much of her. And it hurt. So much. It didn’t help that his family almost immediately moved to Los Angeles from his suburban town in New York. Alex flipped the page, staring at another melody, that he had started shortly before Grace had gone missing. Charlotte had always preferred being called Grace, somehow Nico got away with calling her Charlie, Izzy was fine with Isa, however Alex always called her Izzy. Nico was always Nico. No Nicolas, or the world would end. He flipped to the back of the book, where he knew Nico and Izzy had left messages for him before he, mom and dad had moved to the West Coast. In Nico’s blocky handwriting, _I know you’re down right now about Charlie leaving and honestly so am I. Me and Charlie were close, being the sporty kids out of the 4 of us. I know you and Isa are closer. But with Charlie and Isa and I and you, music was something we bonded over. I’m not pushing you to play and if you do play, I’m sure it’ll sound as beautiful as ever. I love you and I never thought I would say this, but I’ll miss being awoken to sound of you and Charlie playing Never Enough at the top of your lungs_ and Izzy’s spindly, neat handwriting, _If I know Nico, he probably gave some heartwarming speech on how he won’t push you and you’ll be ready to play when you are. I completely agree, but you don’t need the same thing twice. Just know that me and Nico are always here for you and even though we’ll be 3,000 miles apart, we are just a phone call away. Do not Hesitate for anything. I love you Alex._ Those messages never failed to make Alex happy, and calm down his anxiety. Smiling, he shoved it down into his fanny pack and sat on the couch, scrolling through his phone when the garage doors swung open. Luke and Reggie came walking in, soaked from the rain. 

“It rains two days in LA and you happen to forget your lucky guitar pick on the one day it rains?” Reggie exclaimed. Alex smiled and started climbing up the ladder into the loft, looking for the clothes he, Reggie and Luke had up there if they accidently fell asleep during one of their late night practices. 

“What do you expect, Reggie?” Alex asked. “It’s Luke.” 

“I take offense to that statement.” Luke said, crossing his arms and pouting. Julie walked in and stared at the soaked boys.

“What happened to you?” She asked looking at Luke and Reggie.

“They got caught out in the rain.” Alex called from his position in the loft.

“It’s Luke’s fault.” Reggie said at the same time Luke said, “I forgot my lucky guitar pick.” 

Julie sighed and put her hands in her head. 

“Get changed in the bathroom and we’ll get started all right?” 

The practice went relatively well. Julie and Luke explained their changes to the chorus that they came up with during their lunch period. And Mr. Molina ordered pizza for dinner and they sat around the table talking to each other, like a family. Alex missed this in his own house. Most of the time he ate dinner in the kitchen and not with his parents in the dining room. Except for Thursdays. But Thursdays were a form of torture. And now, Mr. Molina was driving him, Reggie and Luke home at 11. The roads were eerily silent and Mr. Molina was the only car on the road. Alex lived the closest to the Molinas, a fifteen minute walk or a five minute drive while Luke and Reggie lived further away but still in walking distance. Mr.Molina pulled up next to Alex’s house and Alex scrambled out of the car, having a desire to stay with the Molinas. But he just waved goodbye and unlocked the house with his keys. 

~*::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::*~

“Alexander.” His mother simply said, sitting in the living room. 

“Mrs.Evans.” He replied neutrally, removing any traces of emotion on his face. Alex wasn’t sure how effective it was. Luke and Reggie always said he didn’t have a poker face.

“The dishes must be done and the kitchen floor sparkling by tomorrow morning. And take care not to wake up Mr.Evans.” His mom said, looking out the window as if she was just watching the night sky. Alex sighed and headed to the kitchen, pausing when he saw the mountain of dishes in the sink, and the mud-coated kitchen floor. It was going to be a long night.

Alex had managed to get the floor and the dishes clean, but it was 5 am and he had to be up in 2 hours. If he headed over to Julie’s directly after school, then he could take a nap before the garage party began. If he was lucky no one would question it. 

It was Friday the 13th, of course he was unlucky. He walked with the rest of the band to Julie’s house and walked into the garage and collapsed on the couch. 

“You ok, Alex?” Luke asked, his eyebrows furrowing in concern. 

“Yeah, I didn’t sleep enough last night.” Alex said, his eyes already closed. The last thing he felt was a blanket being draped over him as he drifted off into a deep sleep.

~*::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::*~

“Something is not right guys.” Julie whispered as Luke finished draping a blanket over Alex. “When was the last time Alex didn’t sleep before 12?” Reggie’s eyes widened.

“Never. Either his anxiety is really bad or something else is going on.” Reggie whispered back.

“His mom was really weird the other day. She sounded so cold, unlike the Amelia Evans I know.” Luke walked back from the sofa and stood next to Julie, his eyebrows still furrowed in concern. 

“I agree. When I hung out with Alex last Saturday, his parents were really weird. It was like they forgot how to treat Alex like their son.” Luke whispered.

“We need to go guys, Alex wakes up really easily.” Reggie whispered, creeping towards the garage doors. Julie and Luke looked at each other and followed Reggie out, heading towards Julie’s house. 

~*::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::*~

“Hey guys!” Ray said, as he spotted them sitting in the kitchen. “I thought you guys were doing show prep? And where’s Alex?” 

“Alex didn’t get enough sleep last night so he’s sleeping in the garage.” Reggie answered, trying to throw a grape into Luke’s mouth. Julie was watching in amusement, with a half smile on her face while watching Luke fail to catch the grape. 

“Alex, not getting enough sleep? Is everything ok?” Ray said, frowning while looking into the oven.

“We don’t know. He hasn’t told us anything but his parents have been acting weird for a couple of weeks.” Ray frowned and was about to say something when the front door swung open, revealing Flynn, already dressed for the party and carrying multiple bags.

“Julie! I found the most perfect thing for your- Aren’t the guys supposed to be in the garage? And where’s Alex?”

“He’s sleeping in the garage and the guys and I didn’t want to wake him up.” Julie said, curiously looking at the bags. ‘So what did you bring?” 

“Come to your room and I’ll show you.” Flynn said, climbing the stairs to Julie’s room. “You guys probably also want to start getting already for the show.” She shouted down at Luke and Reggie. Julie turned around and shrugged at them and her dad. 

“It’s 4:30. Alex slept for about two hours. I’ll wake him up and help him set up.” Luke said turning towards the door, Reggie waving bye to Ray and running to catch up with Luke.

~*::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::*~

The show went pretty well in Alex’s opinion. They played Bright, Finally Free and unveiled their newest song that wasn’t on their Youtube channel, Edge of Great. Alex had gone home after dreading a conversation with his parents. Thankfully, they were asleep when he got home, and he headed straight to bed. The plan was for the music video of “Edge of Great” to go up at 12 noon on Saturday and that all of them would promote it on their social media accounts that they had gotten once they started using Youtube and Spotify. That was all routine once they recorded a video and audio for a song. So when his phone started ringing from a call from Julie and he picked it up to hear her shrieking with someone yelling in the background, he panicked.

“What is it, Julie?” Alex asked, his mind already heading to worst case scenarios.

“We’re trending on Youtube!!” Julie shouted into the microphone, causing Alex to pull his phone away from his ear for a couple of seconds. Then it sunk in, what Julie had told him.

“We’re trending on youtube?” Alex repeated in disbelief, sitting down on the porch steps in shock.

“Number 1!” Flynn screamed. 

“Really? Did you tell the other guys?” Alex asked, with a half smile on his face. 

“Nope! Do you want to come over?” Julie asked, happiness evident in her voice.

“Sure. I’ll see you in ten minutes.” 

~*::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::*~

Alex’s parents were sitting on the couch waiting for him when he came home from the Molinas.

“Mrs.Evans, Mr.Evans.” Alex said, his hands sweating, from when he saw his parents on the couch. It reminded him painfully of that day in March when his parents found out about him being gay. 

“Your band is trending on Youtube.” His father said, his fist clenched and his chin lifted up. 

“Yes it is.” Alex said, feeling like he was trembling like it was winter in New York and he had no coat. Grace had pulled him in after she saw him outside and forced him to wear a winter jacket and then she came and joined him with Izzy and Nico joining them later. It was a big deal because his siblings were old, and Nico and Izzy were in college. 

“This increases our social status, Alexander.” His mom said, her tone strict. “The Evans family will benefit from this.” His father muttered something under his breath and his mother gasped and elbowed him. Alex couldn’t make out what his father said, but he found that he didn't care.

“You will be under stricter surveillance because of this. You must be a pristine, perfect child. You must attend Church tomorrow and we will show you off. You are our son and gaining fame will boost our status to the stratosphere.” His mother finished and Alex felt angry. His parents had treated him like garbage and now they were using him to boost their social status. 

“Alex, go to your room now. Your father and I will have instructions in the morning.” Alex walked the stairs, and the second he was in his room, he curled up in his room, hyperventilating alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments and kudos!
> 
> Visit my [Tumblr](https://auroranights.tumblr.com)!


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